Writing words for money.

NOTES ON RUNNING MY FIRST 10K, BOTH IN KOREA AND EVER

IN ANTICIPATION OF Busan’s upcoming 5k/10k/half-marathon race near Bexco on March 25 (application deadline Mar. 9; no English website; roughly 30,000 won), some friends and I traveled north to Ulsan on March 1, Korean Independence Day, at the too-early hour of 7 a.m. for an early Spring taste of what running is like in South Korea.

“By the finish line, the sun had well since risen over the leafless trees on the surrounding mountains, and we each received a gold medal, a water bottle, a stale-but-delicious red bean paste bun, and a small box of soy milk before braving the changerooms, which were really just tents filled with naked Korean men deodorizing themselves in the chilly winter air.”

I hadn’t initially intended to write anything about this race, but it’s literally gotten to the point where I genuinely and arrogantly believe anything I do that offers any unique experience can and must be shared with my fellow expats. And no one can stop me.